Fear of Thunder
by startscribbling12
Summary: Rikku and Yuna want to camp out in the Thunder Plains to rid Rikku of astrophobia. Then an old friend comes along. How does Rikku forget about thunder? Oneshot


A/N: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII

Rikku taps author on shoulder and whispers in ear. Oh I do not own Final Fantasy X-2 or any of it's characters. I know I know, cant I stick to one fic?! Well This is a one shot and I am in a thinking mood for my other fic so This is one chapter long. R&R! )

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

**Vayn uv Drihtan (Fear of Thunder)**

I stood on the deck of Brother's airship, Celsius. It had been one year since I helped Yunie defeat Sin. One year since Tidus disappered because he was a dream. Yunie is okay with things now. I have shown her the sphere that had him in it, or at least it looked like him. I told Yunie I wanted to get over my astrophobia, or fear of thunder and lighting. She told me to camp out in the thunder plains. I didn't want to go alone, so I told her to come with me. And here we are, I hoped this day would never come. Not only will I get wet, lighting can strike wherever! It doesn't help that it is raining either, wait I covered that. Thunder crackled and I covered my ears with my hands and went into the crouched postion. Then, someone put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up. It was Yuna.

"Aww. Yunie! Do I have to do this?" I asked, standing. She shook her head.

"No, unless you want to stay this way, forever." Yuna reminded me. I groaned and grabbed my heap of luggage. Brother dropped us off at Rin's travel agency. Lighting flashed and I ran through the door, hitting Rin. I pulled my hands to my mouth and held a hand out to help him.

"E ys cu cunno, Rin" I said, pulling him up. (I am so sorry, Rin) He just laughed.

"I know, Rikku, about your fear. It's alright." He said in his accent. I smiled. "Are you staying the night?" Yuna shook her head.

"We are camping out here! We came for supplies." Yuna said, getting out some gil. She handed Rin the money and we traded it in for some food and potions. I hid in the corner of the store, not wanting to come out. I mean, i was sixteen and I was hiding from a storm. Then a man heard Yuna calling my name, Rikku Rikku. He smiled and walked over, peeking behind Yuna's shoulder.

"Cid's Girl?" He said. Yuna jumped and gasped, along with me. I put a hand to my chest.

"Don't do that, you nearly killed Yunie!" I yelled at him, pushing him away. Yuna looked confused. Wondering why I was so mean to a stranger.

"Rikku, don't be mean to a stranger. Hi I'm--" Yuna began, holding out her hand.

"Lady Yuna. I knew you were Cid's Girl's cousin." He replied, shaking her hand. He grinned when he said 'Cid's Girl'. I was enraged.

"Oui pummo! Go away!" I yelled at him, pushing him down. (You bully!) Yuna gasped. The man just laughed.

"Rikku, how could you be so mean to this man?" Yuna said, scolding me.

"This _man _happens to be Gippal, leader of the Machine Faction, and a total jerk!" I yelled at her.

"Aww, don't be like that, Princess." Gippal faked pouted. "Besides, you hate thunder. Why are you guys here?"

"Rikku and I decided to camp out here for one week. To face Rikku's fear." Yuna said. Gippal stood, brushing himself off.

"Gippal, don't even ask." I warned him.

"Please?" He made puppy-dog eyes.

"Don't try that on me!"

"Sure, Gippal. You can come with us." Yuna said. I guess she was trying to make me mad.

"Yes!" Gippal shouted.

Gippal took the bags from Yuna and we walked up the hill, to a small dry area, that covered us. We took out the tent and began to set up camp. I had to help Gippal since he was having trouble while Yunie went and organized our food. He then began to take out the sleeping bags and place them inside the tent. Luckly, we brought a few extra sleeping bags just in case one of ours got soaked. Then we made a fire and sat all around it and places a blanket down to sit on. We began to talk. After every flash of lighting, I made a squeaking noise.

"Eep!" I yelled.

"Well, you two seem--close." Yuna said to Gippal.

"We were childhood friends." Gippal said, munching on a candy bar. Yuna made a 'ohh' sound and began eating hers.

"If you call constant teasing and bickering a friendship." I added.The ground shook and I made a 'eep' noise again, clingling to Gippal's shirt. He grinned and Yuna laughed. I let go of his shirt, blushing much, and glared at them. "What?!" They shook their heads.

"So how did you meet?" Yuna said, having to bring it up. I rolled my eyes.

"I remember it as if it were yesterday." Gippal said, wanting to tell the tale.

"What did you eat for breakfast?" I asked, hands on hips.

"Uh--"

"Exactly. Let me tell."

**--------------Flashback--------------**

_A 5 year old Rikku stood at the doorway of Home with her father, Cid, leader of the Al Bhed. She held his hand tightly when a hover came, bearing a child 6 years of age. The child looked scared and all bloody. Rikku just stared at him._

_"Papa, is he okay?" She asked. Her father didn't answer, instead, he ran over to the hover. Her father began to talk to the man in Al Bhed. _

_"Fryd rybbahat?!" He yelled at the pilot. (What Happened) The man appeared frightened, but still answered. _

_"Drec puo, fa vuiht res hayn rec vysemo'c rid. Rec sudran yht vydran fana tayt, sintanat yht drec ouihk puo fyc ceddehk eh dra settma uv dras, lid ib yht pmaatehk pytmo. Fa lyikrd dra sah fru tet ed, cen." He answered Cid. (This boy, we found him near his family's hut. His mother and father were dead, murdered and this young boy was sitting in the middle of them, cut up and bleeding badly. We caught the men who did it, sir.) RIkku walked over to the boy, holding her blue teddy-bear. They boy looked up at her. No expression in his eyes. She stood in front of him and smiled. _

_"I'm Rikku, and you are?" She asked. He hesitated a moment._

_"I--I'm G--Gippal." He stuttered._

_She waited a moment. "I lost my mommy, too." She thought for a second and handed him the teddy bear. "Here, it helped me when my mommy died. You need it more." He took the bear and smiled at her. _

_"Thank you." He said, holiding it. Then Cid came over._

_"Time to go, girl." He said, pulling her._

_"Bye Gippal!" She waved. He waved back, and was taken into Home._

**--------------End flashback-----------**

"So why are you to fighting all the time?" Yuna asked.

"I don't know. It started right before I found Tidus in Baaj temple. Gippal left for the Crimson Squad then. I was so upset." I said.

------------**Flashback--------------**

_A 15 year old Rikku stood in her room, throwing stuff around, crying her eyes out. A 16 year old Gippal knocked on her bedroom door._

_"Go away!" She said, collapsing on the floor. The door opened anyway. Gippal was not happy at all, he was frowning. "Why even bother coming in here? You are leaving me!" Gippal sat down next to her and sighed. They had been friends for 10 years then, and they did everything together. They never were apart unless Gippal was playing with his 'guy' friends. _

_"Kid, I'm sorry. But I want to do something for Spira. And I might not even make it in." He held her close._

_"But, If you do, you might die!" She yelled, crying more. _

_"I won't. I have someone special to come back to." He said._

_"Oh stop with the act! You jerk!" Though she sounded mad, she still clung to him. _

_"Your no picnic either, but we are best friends. I will come back to you, Cid's Girl." He told her standing up._

_"I know you will, jerk. I hate you." She was full of mixed emotions._

_"I have to go now." He said._

_"I know." They hugged one last time._

_"See you soon! Maybe we'll see eachother when you go diving?" He asked._

_"Yeah, maybe. You better come back jerk!" She smiled when she said that, and he left the room. _

**-----End flashback-----**

"That was the last time we saw eachother until today." Gippal told Yuna.

"You know what, Rikku?" Yuna said.

"Hmm?" I answered.

"You haven't screamed this whole time and it thundered how many times?" She said.

"Wow." Is all I could say.

"Do you think you can still do this?" Gippal asked.

I smiled. "Yeah, I think I can."

A/N: I wrote this in a short amount to time. I wondered what it would be like if Yuna helped Rikku with her astrophobia and Gippal tagged along. R&R Thankies!


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